Day 4 #Juneathon - Making hay

Day 4! :o)

Well, after a bit of coaxing I decided that today would be the day for my first ever pre-work run!  I've not partaken in this previously for the main reason that I am not the best in the mornings. I am a creature of habit and have my morning routine down to a fine art. I'm also concerned about the after effects - will I make it through the day without a Nanny Nap? Will I nod off mid way through a conference call? Will QWERTY be imprinted on my forehead at somepoint during the day? Irrational and a tad exaggerated but you get the gist!  However, the weekend's 'not so much a fun run in the sun' and subsequent Twitter chat, persuaded me to give it a go ( big thanks to @GR33NIE). I had my reservations, but thought that June would be the ideal time to give it a go, as it's in the spirit of Juneathon! As always, it's never straight forward with me......

Alarm set; alarm goes off. I get up. So far so good. The problem comes with fuelling. Do I or don't I eat before running? I had allowed myself 30mins between getting up and heading out the door. So I decided I should eat something - half a banana and half a cup of coffee. I also took a drink with me - High5 Zero. It was hot out there afterall, even at 7am! (What do you recommend for early morning runs fuelling wise? Feel free to share please!)

I purchased my first pair of running shorts at the weekend. Not those ridiculously skimpy ones that barely have side panels, that leave very little to the imagination (middle aged men, take note, 'less is more' applies here - less leg on show! Buy some longer shorts. Thank you!)  but those fairly modest length ones with an inner compression short. I thought it about time as the weather is getting hotter and I could do with ditching the running tights. Today would be the inaugural outing for the shorts. Kit on and ready to go, iPod armband on. Finally, out the door I head to glorious blue skies. 

200 metres into the run and I am heading back home. Me and shorts are destined not to get on. I spent at least 150 metres of the run pulling and yanking them down my thighs. Not pleasant for me and spectators alike. Ebay here they come! And then my iPod armband falls off. The essential velcro square that holds it in place decided it had had enough, gave up the ghost & plummeted to the pavement. Great. Am I sure I should be doing this morning run? There are some clear signs that I should've stayed in bed! But after scouring around at home for my trusty running tights and a safety pin for the armband (why is trying to find one slightly larger than normal safety pin like taking part in an episode of The Crystal Maze?!), I am once again heading back out the door. This time, I make it all the way without having to turn back early. Result.

My running splits still leave a lot to be desired - a little bit of overthinking things, yet again - but a 4 mile run in 37mins is something that I couldn't have done this time last year, at any time of the day, so I'll take that and keep on plodding onwards. I surprisingly enjoyed the morning run, although a lot more cars to take into account on my route than my usual evening run. Even more surprisingly though is that not once did I feel remotely tired during the day. Something I was sure was going to happen and therefore would put the kibosh on any future morning runs. Wack-Wack-Oops - planned excuse scuppered. I'm not saying that I'll now move all of my runs to pre-work but there is a case of 'making hay whilst the sunshines' so I'll definitely try and do at least one a week if I can. And I promise no shorts. It's safer for all involved.